Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour

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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
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Commission meeting agenda targets three critics

Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago had a very good day Tuesday, when he got to retaliate against all three of his “enemies” in a span of eight hours. Let’s call it the L’Ego trifecta.

The city’s commission latest meeting Tuesday turned into another stop on the revenge tour Lago started after he won the April election and both his candidates won their commission seats, giving him a majority on the dais.

L’Ego and his Seguro Que Yes cohorts — the echo chamber that is Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara — were able to (1) censure Commissioner Melissa Castro, for having the gumption to seek a state attorney opinion on the election year change; (2) start the process of killing the non-profit War Memorial Youth Center Association, of which former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who Lago beat with 55% of the vote, is the president; and (3) decided to ask for an independent investigation into anonymous accusations that Commissioner Ariel Fernandez used phishing and tracking in some polling during the election, both of which could be illegal.

Then he must have gone home to eat some kittens. Alive.

Read related: Post-election Vince Lago revenge tour in Coral Gables = political retaliation

Fernandez was absent because of a medical emergency, which gave Lago a free and clear field to attack him. Nobody was there to fight back. Only Castro, who took the day in stride and is obviously growing a thicker skin, voted against the investigation.

The investigation is supposed to center on the alleged use of a poll to capture and track voters, which was reported in an anonymous blog that everybody knows takes orders from Lago. Maybe the mayor even pays them like he used to pay Gables Insider. Fernandez has been accused of fraudulently misrepresenting himself and possibly obtaining personal information from respondents, as well as public records violations after he denied having anything to do with the organization that was polling.

There will be more to report on each of these things, which all deserve a closer look. There is also a budget meeting today in which commissioners are expected to pass a flat tax rate, which means an increase in taxes due to increased property values (more on that later). But looking at the whole of Tuesday’s meeting, it is clear that Lago is not over the election yet. Even though he won!

Maybe therapy would help?

Between the revenge items, the mansplaining by Lara, the gaslighting by Lago, and the free pass in monotone given to both by Anderson, it is getting increasingly harder to watch the Gables commission meetings. But Ladra does it for you, dear reader.

The people who elected Lago said they wanted the political theatrics to end. Instead, we just got a new leading star writing his own script and directing the special effects. Lago himself said at his swearing in that he was turning another page.

Is the book Hamlet?

Ladra will watch the meeting again to get all the salacious details of the Vince Lago revenge tour and anything else important that may have happened at the meeting. But this deserves hazard pay. Throw Ladra a bone for watching the meetings so you don’t have to with a contribution to Political Cortadito today.

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20 Responses to "Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour"

  8. .. the commission drama has always come from gables drama king lago… and fanned by little drama king alter ego alberto santos… gables government won’t improve until lago drops 6 percent measly points and tops at 49 percent in election… come on people… no more excusing this dirty lago… drainthelago!

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  9. While it seems impossible that commission meetings could possibly get harder to watch, that’s certainly the case.

    Lago is a disgrace…he’s either whining about what Political Cortadito will be posting or what Gables Gazette will be posting, but he never complains about the Anonymous Aesop. Why? Exactly as stated above, that blog takes orders and probably $ from Lago.
    If he’s not doing that, he’s warning about the ballot boxes taking care of his “enemy colleagues” during the next elections.
    For goodness sake, he needs to let it go and focus on the current term.

    If he would behave like a professional, moral, and ethical human being, he wouldn’t have to worry about what the blogs he doesn’t control will write.

    Watching the meetings is painful. Never have I witnessed these type of antics in all the years I’ve lived here…which is over 3 decades. Lago needs to grow up. His revenge tour is doing nothing to benefit the city’s residents. It’s embarrassing.

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  10. In defeat malice (not defiance). In victory revenge (not magnanimity) It is a different generation.

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  12. Sorry, third thing: How do you censure a fellow commissioner for seeking clarification from the AG on the legality of your move to switch the election? That’s just being assholes, Vince, Rhonda and Richard.

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  13. Two points. First, interesting that Ladra mentions that Lago used to pay Gables Insider. What is omitted is that (1) that happened when Commissioner Fernandez ran the website and (2) the payments were for favorable coverage that lasted until Lago became persona non grata. How can Fernandez claim such political purity when he was a bought and paid for hack?

    Second, Commissioner Anderson is so, so disappointing. I really believed she would be the true independent third vote that would prevent things from spiraling out of control. Instead, it really looks like my trust was misplaced and she is, just like Commissioner Lara, the mayor’s stoolie. Sorry, Rhonda, but you don’t get to put a sign in my yard next time and you certainly won’t get my vote. You’ve shown your true stripes.

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  15. What is it with Cuban politicians in Miami…they are all corrupt! Did their mothers put something in their milk?

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  16. Lago is pushing these issues to distract from the supposed affair that ended his assistants marriage and his ties to Kapoor. Can’t wait until the Governor removes him

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  17. v lago is as corrupt as they come, back room deals for his personal business left and right and using the mayors office to benefit him personally and no one else

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  18. all this hate and anger and drama. meanwhile, public works in CG are a puzzle that makes no sense, it takes a year to get a permit to expand a deck behind a home (not even a new deck, just adding a 6 x 10 strip), solid waste takes 3 calls for a pick up, and good luck getting code enforcement to, say, enforce the code.
    Lago reigns like he got a mandate. he got 55% of 30%. that’s no mandate. it is our fault if only 30% of voters show up for an election, but don’t confuse disengagement with mandates. plenty of us still viscerally dislike the guy.

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  19. It is obvious that Ariel Fernandez has a permanent residence in Alberto Santos’ head since his every post for the past 2+ years is about him. Lago isn’t the only one who needs a therapy couch.

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  20. Here we go. Our ‘citizens first’ commissioner, Ariel Fernandez, lied on record, on May 20 2025, that he did not know anything about ‘People Count USA’, something created by his own marketing firm. According to LinkedIn, Marketseur has only 1 employee. Yes, Ariel Fernandez. Just him. No one else works there. As shady as it gets.

    PS: for those interested, here is the youtube link to the May 20 2025 session. It starts at 2:01:00

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOluE0ivMo4

    Reply

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